Comments on: The Fickle Fame of Twitterhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html
Brain candy for Happy MutantsMon, 30 Mar 2015 20:24:05 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1By: penguinchrishttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1632981
Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:57:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1632981Yeah, it’s always a mix. I socialize a lot more on the internet than in real life. However, that’s a low bar to overcome since I socialize so little in real life.

So the problem is that if I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not (someone sociable), to some extent at least, I would say pretty much nothing on twitter or anywhere else. I do try, then, to use twitter et al. (and BB comments) to socialize in a way that I don’t in real life.

But in order to do that I’m going way outside my comfort zone, and pretending to be someone I’m not. Which, I suppose, is the whole point actually – it helps that it’s so much easier to socialize online than in person.

]]>By: penguinchrishttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1632980
Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:51:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1632980I thought I’d point out that though it wasn’t a ploy, I figured it’d be inevitable that I’d gain a few users because of my comment. You were the first, and I gained 11 followers so far ;)

I followed everyone back, and perhaps I’ll try joining in the conversation a bit more.

]]>By: Septhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1632289
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 20:05:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1632289There has to be some way for you to get to the article on someone’s blog and Twitter is great at this (and great at many other things). People sharing links to great content on the web with short commentary or catchy short quote taken from the article, making it a great way to find good content. Otherwise Twitter can also be a great way for entertainment . There are thousands of comedians and wanna-be comedians posting one joke after another. If Twitter is just a waste of time or something valuable is most of the times in your hands with whom you decide to follow.
]]>By: Septhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1632283
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:59:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1632283I guess having a million followers changes the way the people tweet a lot. I have seen a few people taking a 180 degree turn after that, thinking much more before posting anything. It is probably a good thing for people to think more before they share something on Twitter; good for the followers (mostly); good for them (mostly).
]]>By: trx0xhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1632254
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:08:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1632254“but based on people I know, it’s always the most sociable people in person who twitter the most.”

see, for me, it’s the complete opposite. i tweet regularly. i’m not sociable by any means, but i’m way more sociable than a lot of followers i have, which was evident when meeting some of these people in real life. i find a lot of people hide behind Twitter, and use it to socialize, in a way they could never do in person. i also find a lot of people think they have to pretend they’re something else/misrepresent themselves in order to be more popular on Twitter. i mean, i suppose you’ll find that in real life, too, depending on what circles you run in.

]]>By: Danny Smithhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1632081
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:30:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1632081It’s a lot like the “i have 10,000 friends on myspace who ive never spoke to or met” thing from the early 2000’s isn’t it? I just assume its a gratification thing. Still, its effectively yelling random thoughts out your window at toasters and getting the same response, but different strokes and all that i suppose.
]]>By: Danny Smithhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1632080
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:29:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1632080It is interesting to see the change in the public view of twitter has affected people like this. When it first started it was some silly little microblog thing used by people for such gems as “eating a sandwich, its pretty good”. Nowadays its basically the billboards of the internet, with the average user paying far more attention to a retweet than a pop up advert and as such its really affected how some people actually use it now compared to back when it started.
For example:
-One person i know wanted to make it in indie comics and was saying how his backlog of tweets was too “childish and non professional” and he would try to stop swearing or talking about things his comic audience would dislike as though his tweets were the advertising force of his work.
-Another had his boss call him into their office at work and say he had looked at his twitter and seen some off colour jokes not appropriate at work and they felt the twitter could be associated with the job. Only when directly asked “so the company is against free speech and you are confirming this mr -blank- ?” did they let it drop
-A college freind once replied to a tweet that something looked vulgar and got a reply from a number of rape victims that what she said had reminded them of the attacks and then she got into a severe state of anxiety with many panic attacks over a few months purely because she made people on twitter feel bad.

Theres plenty of little stories like this i could reference, and thats just people i know personally offline. Its just a strange thing that twitter became so integrated in our culture so fast that its not even been that well noticed to have become the new standard by which many seem to hold themselves to as some sort of advertisement for themselves to others.

Personally i’m still of the mind that twitter is just an outlet for “hey this is cool, check this out” linking or spur of the moment photos or brain farts, but thats a diminutive opinion compared to most nowadays it seems. Folks just gotta remember, doesnt matter how many people see it, its just a tweet. thats all. and some folks will like something, others will hate something. Not letting it bother you, thats the key here. Anything else is just insincere and a disservice to yourself and the people you offer this pruned, artificial facade to.

]]>By: xyzpflhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1632079
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:28:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1632079Remember CB radio? 10-4 idiots.
]]>By: rausantaellahttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1632031
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 10:55:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1632031I must admit it’s not only about the communication in itself, it’s about what you can find in Twitter. Thanks to Twitter and a hashtag, I was able to find out about a design workshop in my city, which I attended to yesterday.

Think of it as a way to share stories (as a way to share links to blog posts and the like it basically beats every other service out there right now), a way to meet likeminded people and a way to keep informed about events and things.

Hell, I’m not a twitstar – and a couple of months ago someone hit on me while I was walking on the street to ask if I was rausantaella on twitter. And we went for coffee. What happened later… not a good thing to tell here.

]]>By: Michael Husseyhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631813
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 01:17:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631813A whole lot of the Suggested User List followers were fake/spam accounts. After a new account was created, the people who were on the List were pre-selected as accounts worth following. The people in China and India who were creating the fake accounts did not bother to un-check these Suggested people.

The reason your total number of followers dwindled over time is because Twitter improved their spam detection.Remember the New Gingrich fake follower story? He was on the Suggested Follower list, too.

“If most of former United States Speaker of the House @NewtGingrich‘s followers on Twitter are “fake” or inactive, they’re more likely to have primarily come through a gift from Twitter in 2009 than any clandestine campaign purchases.”

]]>By: xbox361http://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631783
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 00:27:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631783glad i have a life and friends in my actual world and space to avoid crap like this
]]>By: Pat Wilsonhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631615
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:52:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631615I limit myself to only following 500 and this probably keeps my follower list thinned also.
]]>By: David Govetthttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631555
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:08:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631555Within a decade, Twitter itself will be but a dim memory.
]]>By: angryhippohttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631550
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:04:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631550I’ve been on Twitter since 2007 with only ~60 followers. I look at Twitter as my outlet to make snarky comments to celebrities and pretend that they have to read it.
]]>By: Mike G.http://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631538
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:55:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631538I only got on twitter to promote my blog. I don’t actively seek followers, nor do I follow back unless a new follower has the same interests as I do. Twitter is also good for links to stories that might not be on the MSM. I feel pretty good with my 500+ followers.

But it still baffles me that people would follow you “because you showed up on that list” and then demand to know who you were…

Maybe they shoulda thought of that first, if it matters so much.

]]>By: Physics Geekhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631488
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:20:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631488“People were disappointed that I was just me.”

Their loss, Michele. Really.

]]>By: Steve Hartleyhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631436
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:45:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631436The allure of Twitter was gone when my dog surpassed me in number of followers.
]]>By: thohanhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631419
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:39:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631419I think I’m doing it wrong. I use twitter almost exclusively to be snide on easy targets. I kind of feel bad as I read what I just wrote.
]]>By: NelChttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631256
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 18:00:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631256I was never very active on Twitter, nor had many followers, but when my landlord starting following me I just trickled to a stop.
]]>By: Aimee Bhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631171
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:11:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631171I’m pretty sure 2/3 of my followers are dummy accounts set up by my mom to make me feel better.
]]>By: giantasteriskhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631130
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:28:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631130I honestly don’t understand the allure of Twitter. I have too many treasured distractions already. Plus, if I think you have interesting things to say, I’d rather read your blog. I’ll take complete thoughts; nuanced, researched information; and well-written hilarious stories over 140 characters of mental flotsam any day.
]]>By: Nathan Hornbyhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631119
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:18:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631119I find that Twitter only works when you curate who you interact with, including who follows you (harder to control of course!). Even if its hundreds or thousands of people, I think it’s still important for them to have some connection with who you are and what you’re interested in.

I understand totally why having a million random followers would be intimidating, and more importantly I’d hate it – because instead of communicating with a carefully selected group of people, it just becomes a stream of youtube-quality commentary. Twitter outside of your ‘zone’ can be a hell-hole.

]]>By: tristan eldritchhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631092
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:33:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631092I joined up Twitter in the wake of the Charlie Sheen apotheosis, thought I was going to EXPLODE overnight. I’ve only got one follower – and the dude lives in the same apartment as me so it’s just like having a dixie cup on a string. Twitter sucks.
]]>By: RadioSilencehttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631086
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:23:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631086I recognise your username, chris, and I always appreciate what you have to say. I’ll give you a follow. And you seem to use twitter much like me.
]]>By: penguinchrishttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/fickle.html#comment-1631074
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:05:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206387#comment-1631074I have been on twitter since 2007 as well, @penguinchris:twitter , before it was big, but only have 41 followers. At least 2/3 are bots or spammers, I think.

Even so, I am very self-conscious about it. I make efforts occasionally to just use it confidently and to be myself but then I’m reminded that most of the interesting things I might say are not things I’m confident broadcasting to the world (I’m not really sure how I managed to write so many comments on BoingBoing over the years).

Cory @doctorow:twitter follows me now, though. Since he follows over 900 people, I suspect he doesn’t actually see most (if any) of my tweets, but I still feel like I should hold myself to a slightly higher standard.

I think that people who know me in person would not be surprised to know that I use twitter. They surely would also not be surprised to know, though, that I don’t have many real followers and that I don’t tweet much beyond the occasional photo of something interesting I come across. They’d know that in the right contexts I will go on and on and I’m not anti-social, of course (again… my BB comments are a prime example).

I’m sure there are some people who don’t socialize much in-person but who tweet like crazy… but based on people I know, it’s always the most sociable people in person who twitter the most. A lot of people seem to feel that the internet provides a platform for socialization to people who don’t socialize much in “real life”, but it has never really worked out that way for me, I guess.